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Verstappen is youngest F1 race winner after Mercedes crash

BARCELONA — Dutch teenager Max Verstappen made Formula One history as the youngest race winner yesterday in a sensational Spanish Grand Prix that saw dominant Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide and crash out on the opening lap.

Max Verstappen is also the first Dutch race winner since the championship started in 1950. Photo: Getty Images

Max Verstappen is also the first Dutch race winner since the championship started in 1950. Photo: Getty Images

BARCELONA — Dutch teenager Max Verstappen made Formula One history as the youngest race winner yesterday in a sensational Spanish Grand Prix that saw dominant Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide and crash out on the opening lap.

Verstappen, only 18 and making his debut for the former world champions after being promoted from junior team Toro Rosso a week earlier, beat Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen — at 36 twice his age — by 0.616 seconds.

Verstappen was also the youngest driver to stand on the podium and the first Dutch race winner since the championship started in 1950.

His proud father Jos, who was twice on the podium with Benetton as Michael Schumacher’s team-mate in 1994 and raced against Raikkonen later in his career, declared it the best day of his life.

“This is really something unbelievably special,” he told reporters, while others acclaimed an exceptional talent.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, the previous youngest race winner thanks to his astonishing 2008 Italian Grand Prix victory for Toro Rosso at the age of 21, was third for Ferrari.

Rosberg had his lead trimmed to 39 points, with Raikkonen moving up to second ahead of Hamilton.

The German’s dream of an eighth successive win, and fifth of the season, had disappeared in the gravel on the opening lap as he and reigning champion Hamilton crashed out while battling for the lead.

That looked like being the talking point of the day at a circuit that has seen processional races in the past, until Verstappen rewrote the script.

His was a remarkably assured performance for a youngster who could not drive on public roads until last year and whose precocious entry into the sport was questioned by many.

“I was targeting a podium but to win straight away is an amazing feeling,” said Verstappen, who had qualified fourth with Australian team-mate Daniel Ricciardo third.

“I can’t ever remember seeing a debut performance like that,” gushed Red Bull team principal Christian Horners.

“The kid’s just done an unbelievable job. Max hasn’t put a wheel wrong all weekend. To win the race, I don’t think anyone can have dreamt of that.” REUTERS

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